Administrator

It has been a highly successful year for the Swedish online software and gaming group, NetEnt AB (rebranded from Net Entertainment).

The group celebrated impressive growth across the board as it expanded into different countries and jurisdictions around the world,with more players than ever visiting NetEnt powered online casinos and enjoy the new games and titles launched by the group.

It was a very profitable year for NetEnt, as seen by its numbers posted in September this year. In the nine months which the financial report covered, the Stockholm listed NetEnt generated revenues of nearly SEK 810 million. This was an impressive 32.5% increase from the same period a year before. More importantly, NetEnt’s operating profit increased a staggering 54.3% to SEK 279.8 million. The good figures not only drove share prices up, but also attracted even more players who were impressed with the solid platform offered by NetEnt.

The group’s main weapon seems to be its ability to sign strategic partnerships in emerging and established gambling markets. It was a record year for NetEnt which signed a whopping 30 partnership contracts in Europe and the United States, while the group saw its software go live on 20 online casinos.

Italy is a popular market for NetEnt games, with a number of Italian operators able to offer their games to their players thanks to an agreement signed with gambling platform supplier
GameAccount Network. In addition, some of the group’s top titles went live with the Italian SNAI and Sisal.

NetEnt also teamed with two of the hottest names in the online poker world, Full Tilt and PokerStars, both owned by the Canadian listed Amaya Inc to launch some of its games on their European-facing platforms in February this year. Just one month later, the group signed three more partnerships to see it expand further on the Continent. One of the most significant of these three was the deal with Gamesys, a powerful UK based gaming company. The group then penned a deal with the Danish government owned Danske Spil, a highly reputable online gaming group which was another feather in the group’s cap. NetEnt then turned its attention to Spanish markets, through a deal with CODERE.

Perhaps the highlight of the year for NetEnt in terms of recognition by reputable gaming jurisdictions was the license it received from the UK Gambling Commission.
Under new laws in the UK, online gambling operators which offer their goods and services to UK players need to apply for and receive a license.

From the second half of the year, NetEnt looked further across the oceans and began its expansion into the United States.

It first signed a cross-license agreement with IGT, before signing a customer agreement for the provision of multi-channel casino games in New Jersey. Deals with struck with Bwin.Party and Caesars Interactive Entertainment in June, while another was signed with Golden Nugget in August. Games went live on these casino platforms in December this year.

2016 promises to be an exciting year for NetEnt as it becomes one of the dominant players in the highly competitive online gambling industry.